Make the most of the trails with TRAIL 37.
Totally redesigned for maximum legibility on digital devices, including smartphones, TRAIL 37 is 240 pages of trail running goodness, especially for South African readers. Check out our sampler. And read our Support Guide before you purchase the issue on this site to make the signup easier.
Here’s an overview:
Embrace the flow at five 100% pure singletrack trails, build your speed with slow runs. Develop your ability to choose a line on the trails. Build true core strength beyond abs. Introduce some yoga stretches to your tight hips and back. Learn how to analyse your feet for issues higher up the chain. Get inspired with athlete meal ideas. Beetroot recipes! Choose from 68 trail running events in our calendar. TRAIL 37 will ignite your imagination, prepare you for the tough times, and have you motivated on the trails!
You’ll find ultra athlete Armand du Plessis on the cover, image captured by Damien Schumann.
Buy TRAIL 37 and other issues digitally.
“I always looked forward to purchasing TRAIL, but was sceptical about enjoying the digital version. Finally took the plunge (with issue 37) and have enjoyed reading TRAIL in its digital form. Loads of great content and advice! Well done for a great transition to digital.” Michelle W
What else is waiting inside TRAIL 37?
Reader experiences
- Take a peek into the lives of other trail runners in our reader photos section, with action shots all over South Africa.
- Read Jani du Toit’s letter about training for Otter African Trail Run while pregant and postpartum. Our letter writers are rewarded with Feetures socks for their efforts.
- Emily Allan and her running friends escape the Injisuthi wildfire.
- In this issue’s TrailTalk, hear the debate for race tees or trees, whether you should pay for Strava, and get inspired by the joy and challenge of trail running.
Gear
- TRAIL 37 has a 17-page Spring Gear Guide packed with 42 products and advice.
- See some of the latest offerings from 32Gi, adidas, Aeropress, ASICS, Bluerub, Brooks, Buff, Enduren Nutrition, Gegrond, Groundlive, inov-8, Julbo, K-Way, Ledlenser, Orange Mud, Petzl, Saucony, Salomon, Squirrel’s Nut Butter, Thule, Tifosi, and Triple Orange.
- Win one of two Saucony Peregrine 10 Mutant trail shoes worth R2,400 each in our reader competition.
Locations
- Five 100% pure singletrack trails around SA to find your flow.
- Catch up with South Africans pushing boundaries: Caitlin Lewis races Skyline Mountain Marathon in Utah, Mike Nash running from Courmeyeur to Chamonix in place of the official UTMB TDS, and cover athlete Armand du Plessis recounting his many international ultra experiences, from Norway to Chile, Mauritius to Italy.
People
- Capetonian Roelof Mostert shares his trail love, as discovered on a diamond-encrusted walkway on Table Mountain.
- We celebrate the lives of Wesley Sweetnam, Reid Bremner, Kenneth Stephen, Robert Enslin, and Thabo Madlala, who passed away in the past year.
- Dr Ethel Zulu explains how her Bee Tree Farm helped feed the needy through lockdown.
- Young Clara (6), Nathan (8), Ivan (11), and Aden Greenwood (13) are TRAIL 37’s featured TrailKids.
- Cover athlete Armand du Plessis (41) shares his most epic ultra running adventures, maternal inspiration, and the scope of his international racing.
Training
- Use slow runs to build speed with Coach Neville, increasing your aerobic base for a properly balanced training programme
- Yoga stretches to loosen your hips and back from Himeville yoga instructor (and trail runner, cross-country mountain biker, paddler, and founder of the Awaken Yoga Festival) Bianca Haw.
- Trust the process! Coaches Meg Mackenzie and James Montgomery of The Run Project explain how to hold the vision for long-haul gains.
- What should you do if a snake bites you while you’re running? Johan Marais of the African Snakebite Institute has life and limb-saving guidelines.
- “I’m at a loss with what to do with my training until I start racing. Should I work on running shorter distances faster or should I just look to build my distances at easy paces?” Sean Tait of Off the Mark training gives a detailed answer to this question, to keep you motivated in race limbo!
- Choose a line on the trail, building through four levels of competence with mountain runner Pierre Jordaan.
- A ripped six-pack is not the same thing as a strong core. Physiotherapist Karine Bezuidenhout helps you build true core strength with planking, hollow-holds, and single-leg balances.
- Knowing how to recover is a key element of training. Physiotherapist Tarrin van Niekerk lays out the natural approach, while four readers share their high tech recovery solutions.
Nutrition & Health
- Make the best of beetroot with three recipes: a beetroot latte and smoothie from red espresso, and pink beetroot and hibiscus flapjacks from Rugani.
- Trail event organiser Warren King shares his journey from ankle surgery and back to the trails.
- There’s more to life than avocado toast! Trail runners Simon Muller, Ashley Robinson, Nontuthuko Mashimane, and Toni McCann take you on a tour of what they eat and drink through the day for meal inspiration.
- What should you do if a snake bites you while you’re running? Johan Marais of the African Snakebite Institute has life and limb-saving guidelines.
- Analyse your feet for issues higher up the chain with biokineticist Anca Wessels.
Events
- We look back at some of the bigger virtual trail races that have taken place in South Africa, including Virtual Runtheberg, Gone2Gone, TT4in8, Pacer Running VK series, The Noordhoek Trail Race, and Mnweni Marathon.
- We list 67 trail running events from October December 2020, and some highlights from early 2021 taking place across South Africa. Get the details and start lining them up with the help of our month-ahead online calendar!
Planet
- Take on your personal relationship with plastic, beyond the grocery shopping and into your running gear bag…
- Read our Eco-shorts: the Trees Not Tees movement, Kilian Jornet‘s new conservation foundation, and David Attenborough’s new film.
About
TRAIL magazine became South Africa’s first print publication dedicated to the booming worldwide activity of trail running in December 2011.
Since then the mag continues to enlighten its growing readership with the best places to run, the most suitable gear and the most popular trail running events from every angle; visiting the Himalayas, Sahara Desert, Amazon, and many local trails, including the famed Otter African Trail Run, Addo Elephant Trail Run, Ultra-trail Cape Town, and the K-Way SkyRun.
Buy TRAIL
TRAIL magazine is available from TRAIL, Amazon, Apple Newsstand, Google Play, Magzter, and Zinio.
You’re covered whether you read on iPad, Android, iPhone, Kindle, laptop, or desktop devices. Available as single copy or multiple issue subscriptions.
On sale worldwide from 28 September 2020.
Buy print back issues of TRAIL magazine
Events, give your runners that something special. Enquire about quantities of our previous issue.
[…] This article was originally published in TRAIL issue 37. […]